Location: Cape Town
Hello and Good evening,
Today we started our day with some amazing homemade banana bread brought to you by Amanda C. After finishing our breakfast, we quickly cleaned and got prepared for the day as we caught the bus for the nature reserve. Unfortunately, as we noticed at breakfast, it was a very special occasion of rain that had befallen us. No matter, we made our way to our bus prepared for anything. It was an hour-and-a-half drive to the reserve, where we witnessed the city leaving us as we approached the spectacular countryside with mountains and farmlands surrounding us. When we approached the reserve, there were two adorable dogs that came to greet us as we made our way over to the safari truck. Once we loaded up onto the truck, we made our way over to the reserve. The first stop that we made was at the lion exhibit, where we noticed two lionesses and one lion resting on the grass and rocks. After our guide gave us information on the cats, we made our next stop at the elephants. There were two beautiful elephants with reduced tusks for their comfort, in which we proceeded to feed them squash. The elephants were one meter away from us, separated by electric wires; they danced back and forth as they knew we came with goodies. They reached their trucks out to the point where we could put the squash at the front of their trucks.
The elephants then sucked the squash so it would not fall, then wrapped it with their trunk to secure it before placing it in their mouth to eat. Moreover, once we finished, the wind and rain picked up a bit in which we were given ponchos to make sure we were comfortable in the weather conditions. We then made our way over to the Zebra, Donkey, and the combo of Zonkie babies! Afterward, we learned about the Springbok and spotted them; they are the national animal of South Africa. Furthermore, we made our way to our last stop, where we got out of the car and hiked up to a dam while stopping at some rivers with fresh water running through them. There was clean water at the top near the dam, where we got a quick sip of water before heading back down. Before stopping at the lodge, our guide noticed that the lions had moved closer to the fence.
Therefore, we made a quick pit stop and went to greet them. As we approached them, we could hear the lion start to growl as it was defending its territory; it made serval attempts to scare us as it quickly launched forward toward the fence we were standing behind. We then headed back; when we returned to the main lodge, we rested a bit and warmed up as we waited for our food to be ready, listening to one of the staff play piano. It was well worth the wait as we ate steak frites, and veggie burgers, which were delicious and very filling. Afterward, we headed back down to the bus to go back to the boat. When we arrived, we could smell the delicious dinner prepared by Amanda, Gabe, and Freddie. We had an hour to relax or go for a walk before it was fully completed. We then made our way upstairs to eat our dinner, which was pork with mashed potatoes and mushrooms in a sauce, and salad. Lastly, we did our appreciation for the day, and the question I came up with which was: If you could learn any skill instantaneously, which one would it be and why? The majority of the answers were to learn a new language, some technical skills such as coding or sports, and one person wished to learn parkour! The rain has cleared up, and everyone is getting ready to call it a night as we are excited about Robben Island tomorrow.
Thanks for reading,
Nicholas M.